As Soft As His Heart
by NeighNeigh
Summary: When Arabella comes face to face with rough vamp Niklaus he is forced to make a difficult decision, but does he make the right one? KlausxOc. Rated for indirect sexual scenes. Starts near the end of Season 2, Episode 19.
1. Apartment Number 9

_Apartment number 9. That's where he is. Finally! It's been so long that it's almost unreal!_

"Okay, so… up these stairs, to the left and…" My body swerved and swivelled across distastefully bland hallways and up a large set of plain, concrete stairs. A rush of excitement engulfed my every move, all of this time I've spent waiting and he's just behind this wooden door. I focused my ears on the inhabitants of the room; some witch-y chants encompassed my ears, I've always hated witches - nothing good ever comes from them. Ever. After all, it was a witch who created Vampirism in the first place, albeit for protection. From what I can hear there are only two witches, but I can hear five heart beats so whose were the extra two? A few moments passed before the chanting ended, that was when I heard an unfamiliar voice, this must have been the one that he had been temporarily possessing, he said only one word before a drop to the floor. "Elena?"

A creaking noise began to emit from what I assume is some kind of door, perhaps to whatever had been preserving the body all this time? There were only three short footsteps before the voice that I had been longing to hear after all of these years spoke.

"Now, that's more like it"

Tears began to gather in the corners of my eyes, it was him, after all this time, it was finally him. I was overcome with a feeling of joy and could no longer hold myself back, I burst through the door and pinned him to the floor, savouring every slight touch and reflex that I'd felt along the way. He bared his fangs for a few moments before registering who I was. It had truly been too long. I could no longer hold myself back and let my tears show, feeling a single tear gently trickle down my left cheek.

"Everyone-" Klaus' voice was musty, as if he too were overcome with emotion. Was he as happy as I was to see his face after all these years?

"Everyone. Out. Be back here tomorrow." He ordered, never taking his eyes off of me, encapsulating every feature on my face again and again. The look of shock was still fresh on his followers faces. That was when I noticed the doppelganger, not that she really mattered at that precise moment, but why was she here? Something wasn't right. Then it occurred to me; compulsion. I was so happy that the fact that Klaus was an original vampire had slipped my mind. He must have compelled her to be here, but… why?

"OUT!" He yelled, angry that his first attempt to dismiss his enthralled minions had failed. They all left the room almost so instantaneously that it was funny. I giggled at his rage, caressing his cheek with my hand when my thumb reached his bottom lip. Oh, how I have longed for these lips. It's funny, his lips were always as soft as his heart. My thumb rubbed lightly downwards before I moved it away, sometimes it's as if my hands have a mind of their own. His eyes, always trapped between somewhere green and blue, were gazing down on me. I remember once, when we first met, he told me that my eyes were so blue that even the gods of the sea grew green with envy, and that my lips were so red that it were as if my mother had taken the colours from the finest rose of all and bestowed them upon me. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his ever so familiar voice.

"I've missed you" He breathed, looking deeply into my eyes and brushing away a lock of brunette hair that had fallen onto my face amidst the flurry. His hand gently stroked my cheek causing me to take in a deep breath with his warm touch.

"I've missed you, too" Letting a final tear fall, I pressed my lips against his. I had forgotten how soft they truly were. The moment was soon broken when the doppelganger cleared her throat at the back of the room, apparently Klaus had compelled her not to leave, which also makes sense. With a deep sigh and a lowered head Klaus stood up and walked over to the Petrova girl, and with one smooth motion he snapped her neck. Probably so that she would technically be 'gone' for a day without him having to risk her escape. Clever boy.

"Now, then…" He looked turned his head to the side, keeping my at the edge of his vision,

"…Where were we?" He grabbed me and forced my body up against the wall, our lips pushing against each other harder and harder, each breath deeper than the last. I pressed our bodies together, relishing in each sensation that had been dormant for so long. He roughly rubbed my chest as I began unbuttoning his shirt when he burst down the bedroom door. We fell onto the bed and hid under the covers for what seemed like a blissful eternity.


	2. Arabella

I opened my eyes, my head on top of his chest, his heart still pounding rapidly. I wonder what he's dreaming about? It took me a few moments to realise who I had been lying there with. Klaus. His arms were firmly wrapped around me with the covers for the bed loosely draped around us, it was like something out of one of Fabio's romance novels. I lay there for a few minutes before finally standing up and attempted to find my underwear, with Klaus still firmly asleep on the bed. The clock on the bedside table reading '6:30 am' _WHY AM I EVEN UP THIS EARLY? _I testified, but knew that if I went back to sleep now then it wouldn't be until half of the day was over that I'd at least consider getting up again. After scanning the room thoroughly I determined that my search for any form of covering clothing was near impossible. I shook the bottom of Klaus' leg with no prevail, I tried blowing on his ear and had left the room temporarily to get a bowl and fill it with warm water when a prickling sensation ran up my spine.

"Looking for these?" A voice murmured as he held up a pair of lacy red lingerie and dropped them on the counter,

"Yes! Where did you find them?" I questioned, none of my attempts had seen such success; I hadn't even found a sock!

"Where you left them" He mocked whilst grabbing a blood bag and unscrewing the lid, which I soon took off of him and had a sip of before giving him it back,

"You know, the amount of information you provide me with is just insane. Like really mind blowing" I sarcastically retorted back at him. I picked up the underwear he'd dropped and started putting it back on. Only managing to put the thong on when his hands grabbed hold of mine and stopped me.

"They were on my side of the bed" He whispered into my ear, to which my body responded with a different kind of shiver. He began to nibble my ear and a warming sensation began to take control of my body, I quickly freed my hand and playfully hit his chest with my bra.

"No, stop it" I tried to protest, but Klaus being Klaus didn't listen. In fact, he even started to kiss my neck as a sign of rebellion. I remember there was a time when he would've done anything I said in a heart beat without hesitation. There was even this one time when… Why am I even thinking about this? The most beautiful man in existence is kissing my neck and all I can do is get nostalgic. Or is it? His teeth caught the skin on my neck, causing a slight cut to bleed, the blood probably got into his mouth because it wasn't long before he sunk his fangs deep into me and an overwhelming pleasure consumed me, I let out a small groan at which he began to suck harder and faster, however, I started to lose feeling in my legs - so I regrettably forced him away. His hybrid eyes showing and blood around his mouth, I soon took hold of his wrist and began to drink. He slowly unhooked my bra with only his left hand and started to pull down on my underwear, and we both started to flit with each other around different areas in the room until we crashed into the sofa where we just stopped and stared into each others eyes and, at that moment, he spoke the words that I hadn't heard in so, so long.

"I love you" Those words were soft and kind, and they triggered something in the back of my mind that brought me to tears.

"I love you too" I choked, trying to hold back the tears. The remnants of yesterdays events began to flood back into my mind. We began to kiss again. A slow, passionate kiss that I hadn't felt since he left. He ran his hands through my sultry brown hair, and pulled my head into his chest, I could hear a series of faltering breaths and then something I'd never expect of Klaus. A few warm drops slowly made their way down my back, and it took me a while to register what they were. Tears. Klaus was crying.

"Never leave me like that again!" He tried to disguise his tears with his usual aggressive mask.

"I won't. I swear" My arms wrapped themselves around him, there was brief moment of silence when the doppelgänger began to desperately gasp for breath, I pushed Klaus into the bedroom and shut the door behind him quickly. I rushed over to my racy lingerie and started to put it on. The ganger covered her eyes.

"So what's your name?" She asked while she tried to blindly locate a chair, I ran over to the bedroom and retrieved my clothes from Klaus; a loose, scarlet belly top with a pair of dark blue faded skinny jeans and a pair of shiny, black heels. I put them all on quickly and answered her question.

"Arabella"


	3. Until I Met You

The doppelgangers face was covered in disbelief. What was so surprising about my name?

"You mean you're THE Arabella?" She questioned, her mouth hanging down.

"The one and only" I sighed, whatever she's heard about me is probably bad considering my connections with the Original Family; it's rare for people to speak highly of them anymore, in a positive way at least. I picked a blood bag, poured it into a cup and slid it to the ganger.

"So, what's your name?" I began to serve myself a blood bag, and took a sip from the cup.

"Don't you remember? That's our dear Katerina" Klaus burst into the room, unannounced, making Katherine suddenly jolt up in fear, not that I blame her. Klaus' reputation proceeds him a lot of the time, mostly because of his unstable temper and merciless treatment of people that displease him, not cross. Displease. I mean, I love him and all, but sometimes he does go a bit over the top. Like when he tracked down all of Katerina's family and friends and killed them all just because she had the 'audacity' to survive him.

I shook my head, I don't think that I've ever met her before… have I?

"Oh… right, sorry no I don't remember?" Searching the inner sanctums of my mind proved useless, I don't remember her at all?

"Why would you? It was only a brief meeting. Nothing special." He jibbed, obviously disregarding Katerina completely.

"Sorry…" I turned to her. "…My memory's a little of nowadays." I joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"You really don't remember? But we met when-"

"When it was my birthday. A long time ago. There's been so many. Why would you remember?" That was weird. Why did Klaus interrupt her like that? What's he hiding now? … never mind, I must be overanalysing as per usual, I guess that's what you get for studying the human - and non-human - mind for almost 500 years. Hey, I had to do something with all that time and it's not like finding Klaus was an option, well not an easy one anyway. You see, Klaus doesn't really like to leave loose ends, so when he deems someone useless to him he simply kills them. Then again, it's not like he's been raised to be trusting of others. Another gasp for breath started at the other side of the room, this one was deeper and more masculine. Shooting my head around I saw the body that Klaus must have used as his vessel whilst terrorising Mystic Falls.

"Here's the man of the hour!" Klaus exclaimed, he swaggered over to the recently conscious vessel.

"Now I need you to send a message to your dear friends at the Salvatore house" He grabbed the mans collar and forced him to his feet.

"Tell them 'the sacrifice happens tonight.'" And with that the man eagerly walked out of the room.

"Wait!" I called after him, Klaus giving me a suspicious look.

"Look, you didn't compel him so who's to say that he even delivers the message? And what if they try to escape? I could make sure that nothing happens to this new Petrova. What's her name, again? Elena?" His face seemed slightly shocked

"How did you-"

"That guy you were 'borrowing' said it before he dropped, I assumed that since Katerina is the doppelganger of Tatia, then this new girl must be called Elena. Unless he was referring to one of your witches which I highly doubt" Klaus said nothing for a few moments, before nodding his head.

"You never do cease to amaze me." He kissed my cheek,

"I'll see you later then."

"Yes you will" I said flirtatiously before giving a friendly wink to Katerina and taking my leave. As I left I shut the door behind me and found myself standing face-to-face with Klaus' ex-vessel. The walk to the Salvatore home was awkward and stretched, all I could deduce from the conversation was that his name was Alaric, that he was a history teacher/vampire hunter-helper, and that he has a beautiful girlfriend named Jenna. He stopped when we reached the threshold to the Salvatore mansion.

"Wait here." He said with a serious look strewn loosely over his face.

"Wait! Again, please?" He turned back towards me in the hallway, signing for me to 'shush'. I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention, I heard that they even killed an Original - Elijah nonetheless, but how? Did they really manage to get their hands on a White Oak stake? Alaric walked back towards me.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, trying to avoid suspicion.

"Have you, erm…" I paused for a second, unsure of whether I wanted to hear the answer to this question.

"Have you ever heard of a vampire called Elijah? One of the Originals?" I blushed, thoughts swimming all around my head at once, there were so many of them that I couldn't even make them out.

"Yeah, he's probably here, I'll get him for you in a second…" He paused for a moment. "…Actually, come on in." Was this for real? Did he seriously just invite a vampire who has obvious relations to Klaus and Elijah into someone's home? Wow. He's brave.

"Seriously? Thanks." I smiled at him, delighted that I'd earned his trust so easily.

"Just wait around this corner until I say, okay?" I nodded and hid around the corner when I heard someone confront him seemingly on-sight. Accusing him of still being possessed by Klaus, which he soon put to rest when he began to recite a personal experience with the accuser. Which she also quickly put to rest. Then he delivered the message.

"The sacrifice happens tonight." A horrid silence followed until interrupted by Alaric.

"And, don't hate me, but I've brought someone here to meet Elijah" Another silence followed.

"Who is it?" Elijah asked, I felt myself beginning to buzz at the sound of his voice, it'd been longer since I'd seen him than Klaus.

"You know, I never did catch her name." I only just realised that I'd been so rude as to not give my name, I'll apologise after the introductions have been finished.

"You can come out now" Alaric said, referring to me. I slowly walked around the corner with the first face I see being Elijah's. My eyes widened and a cheeky smile crept onto my face, which I tried to hide - unsuccessfully. I stopped by Alaric's side.

"Arabella?" Elijah said, as if he thought his own eyes were betraying him.

"Hi, Elijah." The corners of my eyes began to well up and in no time there were tears in my eyes, I briefly laughed at myself for looking so stupid in front of so many people that I hadn't even introduced myself to.

"And that's our cue" Alaric said, urging everyone to leave, which they did in rapid succession. It was a few moments before either of us did anything, we just stared at each other. The last time I saw Elijah was in 1113 as a nobleman.

"_Come on, Elijah! You're so slow" I teased before my dress got snagged on one of the trees roots, hearing his approaching footsteps I quickly took off my dress leaving only my under tunic. I ran as fast as I could into the woods and climbed up the nearest tree until I got to the nearest branch with a decent amount of covering. It wasn't long before Elijah caught up with me - dress in hand - and screaming my name, when one of the locals came seemingly out of nowhere whacking Elijah with a broom and calling him a 'madman'. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. However, Elijah was having none of it as he quickly managed to dismiss her. It was futile to hope that he hadn't heard my chuckles of joy; they weren't exactly discrete. So I climbed higher, hoping to dismiss any suspicion of the tree, but a branch broke as I stepped on it and I couldn't grab onto anything quick enough, before I knew it I was falling. It took a lot of energy to turn my body around but once I did I saw a glimmer of hope; I was falling into what looked like a deep river. *SPLASH* Went the water as I crashed into it, creating a huge ripple effect over the whole body of water. Unfortunately, Elijah had definitely seen that and - rather than him catching me - he stripped down to his breeches and dived in!_

_That was when I realised; I COULDN'T MOVE. I tried frantically to wave my arms and legs, I even tried to move simple things like my fingers and toes but they wouldn't work either. All I could do was move my neck, not that that was much help but it was reassuring nonetheless._

_Elijah swooped down and rescued my seemingly lifeless body from its watery grave. He swam me to the river bank and asked where I was alright, to which I replied:_

"_I can't move." With tears in my eyes, "I can't move, Elijah!" I started to cry, with him hugging me tight. He grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes._

"_I can help you, but you have to trust me, okay? Do you trust me?" He asked. I nodded my head in pain._

"_With my life" I smiled, trying to stay optimistic. He suddenly bit down onto his wrist and put it to my mouth, I tried to push his arm away but he was too strong._

"_Drink it" He urged, so I did. I wasn't lying when I said that I trusted him with my life. After a while he took his arm away and I could move again, it was some kind-of miracle! But… how did he do it?_

My mind snapped back to reality when I realised that the tears that I had been holding back with falling down my face, I ran towards Elijah and hugged him as tight as I could.

"I thought you were dead" I cried softly, he lifted my chin up with my forefinger and said one thing.

"I've was dead for a long time, until I met you" He pulled my chin forwards and kissed my lips gently, and I kissed back.


	4. The Stolen Kiss

I pulled away from him slowly, half-hoping to kiss him again and half-wishing it never happened.

"Arabella, I-"

"Don't say it." I interrupted hastily, knowing that the next two words to follow would be too much for me to handle. At least for now. "Please"

"Okay, I'm sorry." He apologised, pulling my head into his chest and hugging me tight. Looking into his eyes I saw a thousand emotions at one, but I couldn't confront any of them, and I wanted to. I wanted to so badly that it hurt, and all at once I was flooded with the memory of our first meeting.

_The sound of archery bows and arrows was like music to my ears. 'Silver shot' they called me. Able to shoot any target at any distance every time._

"_Silver!" The sound of my father's fast approaching footsteps caught me by surprise, causing me to slip and fall in the haste I had taken to hide the weapons. He reached the threshold._

"_Stupid girl, get up!" He tutted, spitting onto the floor next to him._

"_This man needs a bow and a guide" Gesturing to the man beside him, he picked up my spare bow and quiver - which had already been filled with arrows - and gave them to the man. This man was clearly of wealth due to his attire; a lightly decorated fine-cotton tunic and a thick leather belt. Surely my father thought of this man as a potential suitor? Admittedly he has been the most handsome of them all, but he shall no sooner win my hand._

"_Excuse me, my lord. I was just attending to my duties" I curtsied,_

"_Just get on with it girl, don't make a fool of yourself." Father spat, if only he were as good a mood as this on other days, maybe then I'd be more willing to adhere to his expectations._

"_My name is Arabella Fletcher, m' lord. May I be so forward as to beseech you for thy own?" It felt almost unnatural to speak in such a proper manner, but such were father's wishes._

"_Stupid cur, of course he already knows your name. Do you really think I'd be so ignorant as to-"_

"_That's enough." The stranger interrupted, I was in complete shock. No one had ever hushed father before, not even brother! The man turned to face my father - he was much taller than him, about 2 inches taller than myself - and looked him in the eyes, I swear I could see the blacks of his eyes change sizes! No. I must be seeing things._

"_From now on you will treat your daughter with love and respect, do you understand me?" He said._

"_She is not my daughter" WHAT?! I felt my innards scream, it's not like I hadn't suspected it given the way I'm treated and the fact that I look nothing like either of my 'parents'._

"_She was left on our doorstep as a babe, we were forced to take her in - no one else would take her, and she's lucky we did. Mother was a whore and Father was a drunk, two bad omens put into a single harlot child." Could this really be true? Why hadn't they told me before? WHY DID THEY TELL HIM BEFORE ME?! Anger began to bubble and brew inside of me, they've been lying to me my whole life! That was when the man looked towards me._

"_Did you know this?" He questioned sympathetically, it made me feel like a true cur. I don't need anyone's sympathy, especially not some man my 'parents' wished me to court. I shook my head, it took all of my strength to hold back the tears that I could feel growing inside of me._

"_You disgust me, get out of my sight!" He ordered 'father'. It did bring me some joy to see fathers compliance with the man's demands, he must be nobility for him to take such a verbal beating. Still, it is odd._

"_I'm sorry, if I'd have known…"_

"_Don't." I stopped him, not bothering to hear the rest of his apology._

"_It's not your fault, you couldn't have know. Now, m' lord…" I belted on my quiver and put my bow on._

"_Where to?" I smiled, leading him out of the door._

"_The lake." This struck me by surprise, why would a nobleman want to visit a lake in the middle of the forest?_

"_And, please, call me Elijah." Elijah? Yeah, I like that. Elijah. Has a nice ring to it. A few hours passed us by before we were able to get to the lake, which is ever so conveniently placed at the centre of the forest. I unmounted my horse and scouted the area. Beautiful Evergreen trees thoroughly surrounded the lake, with the night-time silhouette of the mountains behind them. The lake itself was a clear, crystal blue that sparkles in the moonlight. I turned around to see Elijah standing directly behind me, taking an embarrassed step back I greeted him._

"_Welcome to the Lake of Mirrors." I held an arm out to present the lake to him when there was a rustle in the bushes and a concerned-looking Elijah. I readied by bow and pointed it at the bush, but he soon dismissed me. Saying that it 'Must've been the wind.'_

"_Arabella, about earlier…" A look of sadness crossed his face,_

"_I didn't know that was going to happen, if I did that I never would've said anything. I am truly sorry." He looked into my eyes with his own reflecting an emotion that I'd never seen before._

"_Elijah, seriously, it's okay. I'm fine, and call me Belle" I said with a grin, a funny feeling passed through my stomach - as if there were a thousand tiny butterflies flying around inside of me. We both sat on the edge of the riverbank together, our hands brushing slightly on the way down._

"_Why would I call you that when Arabella is such a beautiful name?" I paused for a moment, unsure of whether he was joking or not._

"_I don't know, I've just always been called Belle unless under official circumstances." I shrugged, feeling the edges of his fingertips against mine._

"_Arabella, I'm going to ask you a question, and you have to answer in absolute seriousness, okay?" I hope he's not planning to ask me to marry him, not that I don't like him, I just don't know him well enough yet._

"_What would you do if you knew someone who could live for an eternity and could not be killed?" The restraint needed to refrain from answering sarcastically was intense, but I soldiered through it._

"_I guess that I'd tell them that I'm sorry that they'd have to go through that."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean an eternity is a very, very long time. And after a while you'd just get so lonely, imagine having to live forever. Alone. Whilst everyone around you withers and dies as you stay young." A surprised look faded onto Elijah's face._

"_So, you're saying that it would be a bad thing, if it were possible?" He questioned. Why was he asking me things like this?_

"_No, I think don't think that. I think that it would be a bad thing if you were alone, however, if you got to spend it with someone you love then that would be the best thing in the world. Imagine it; the ability to live forever, to do whatever you'd want, with the person who makes you happiest in the world." I turned to face him, he was staring out at the lake, seemingly deep in thought, and kissed him on the cheek. He turned around to look at me, I couldn't read his movements, I didn't know whether he thought it was too forward or not? It must've been, right? I mean, we only met this morning. I was woken from my thoughts by the sensation of a hand gently caressing my cheek, it was Elijah's._

"_I'm sorry, Elijah, it wasn't appropriate for me to-" My apology was suddenly interrupted by something I showed slight resistance to at first, before letting my body relax and melt into it. The stolen kiss._


End file.
